


These Dreams

by ShadesOfShame



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, Dreams, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Love, Love at First Sight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-13
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-06-08 03:48:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6837892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadesOfShame/pseuds/ShadesOfShame





	These Dreams

Tonight, like the first night, it was a coffee shop. They had planned to meet at midnight, but he was running a little late as usual. She sat a small table in the corner, patiently waiting, knowing that no matter what time he showed, even if it was an hour late, it would be worth it just to watch him walk in the door. She was about to pull the book she always carried with her out of her purse when the door pushed open. There he was, all muscle and curls and smiles and those eyes! Those eyes she got lost in every night. Those eyes that, when they looked at her, seemed to look straight into her soul. She was certain this is why she related to him so well. Why his music spoke to her so deeply. She was convinced there was some kind of metaphysical connection between the two of them, and that’s how he found her that first day weeks ago. Every night since, they had met up at a restaurant, bar, coffee shop, or some other place where they try and figure out this mutual attraction. 

He sat down across from her wearing her favorite cute, crooked grin that meant he was sorry, but knew she’d forgive him regardless. Damn him for being so cute! He was like a puppy dog, you can never stay mad at something so innocent looking! She just shook her head at him, and they sat quietly for a few minutes, just being there together. Nothing more was needed. Sure, they talked, and laughed, and much more when together, but just being together was enough sometimes. In that silence, she thought about how she first came to know about him. Just like every other girl in existence that was gaga over this man, she first heard his voice years ago when his band’s first album came out. See, the man sitting in front of her is a rock star, though he doesn’t like that term. He prefers to be called a musician that gets to play rock star for a couple of hours for the fans. He’s humble like that, rare for someone who’s been in the industry so long and has had as much success as he has. Five band albums, two solo albums and multiple collaborations later, this man sitting in front of her had changed her life, saved her life to be more exact. She hasn’t told him the whole story yet, just that he played an important role in who she is today. She knows her story isn’t unique. Many people have the same attachment to music that she does. Many people use music as therapy; use it to get through tough times. Many people contribute the fact that they are still alive to a certain song or band that touched them deeply. But he is sitting across from her, not all those other people, and she thinks that maybe it might just mean something more to him that she owes him her life. There is no denying that they have a connection, and the more time they spend together, the more comfortable she feels about sharing her secrets.

He breaks the silence first, wondering why she looked so sad. She didn’t realize she had let the emotion creep into her face, she was trying hard to mask it, but he always seemed to know what she was feeling, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. She told him that she was thinking about when she first heard his voice. He play pouted, knowing that she wasn’t really sad at the thought of his voice, but he wanted to make her feel comfortable telling him the real reason why, which he felt had some pretty deep significance to her, and therefore to him. She couldn’t help but smile at him; he did the pout thing too well, even if he was faking it. It worked liked he hoped it would, he could see some of her hesitance drain away. 

She took a deep breath and launched into the story. She glossed over the part about first hearing his voice, he’s heard it before. She teases him that the first time was no big thing, she wasn’t overly impressed, but they both know that isn’t true. That first day hit a chord deep down inside her that would lie dormant for a few years and come out just when she needed it. He cocks his head at her and jokes that it sounds like rerun night, so she stands up and starts to walk out, fully planning on sitting back down if he doesn’t go after her. He knows she wouldn’t actually walk out on him, but he plays along and jumps up to follow her out of the shop. He loops his arm through hers, looks down at her with the pouty face and she laughs. She wishes it were this easy to be around all people and not just him. She gives him a good jab in the side as a faux warning and continues her story as they walk towards the riverfront. She tells him how she spent a few years discovering new music and realizing that his genre is the one that really spoke to her. His music got lost in the fray with all the other good stuff she had found, only getting listened to occasionally because there was so much good coming out at the time. A few years later, when things in her life started getting a bit rough, she happened to pop in his band’s first album and that chord that had been struck that first day vibrated so deep within her, she thought she would break apart. She realized that she had never really listened to the lyrics before, but now she heard, and it spoke to her like nothing else ever had. His band’s albums became her go-to music when she was having a bad day, a long day, a good day, any day really. It was an outlet she didn’t know she needed. She got teased endlessly when she admitted to one of her friends that when she had bought his third album, she actually bought 2 copies so she could have one in the car and one in the house, and she didn’t change either cd for 9 months! No one can listen to the same songs over and over again like that and not get tired, they had teased. But they were wrong, she never got tired of those songs, still isn’t to this day as a matter of fact. He chuckled at that thinking that even he gets tired of his music sometimes. She poked him and told him to stuff it or she’d stop talking. He grinned and shrugged his shoulders, telling her to continue. She rolled her eyes at him and walked on silently for a few minutes, until they got to the riverfront. She stared at the dark water, lapping at the shore’s edge in the glow of the street lamps. He gently took her hand and guided her over to sit on a bench with him. He put his arm around her laced his fingers in to hers and she laid her head on his shoulder. He rested his cheek on her head and waited for her to continue. She sighed, took a deep breath and picked up where she left off. She told of things getting worse in her life. A marriage that shouldn’t have happened, a divorce, and a custody battle. A never ending stream of jobs because she was never satisfied with what she was doing. The metal, emotional, and financial abuse she suffered at the hands of her ex-husband. The self-esteem issues that just got worse because of all the blame that was falsely laid on her by said ex. The sense of complete failure she felt after the divorce, even though she had done (mostly) nothing wrong. He squeezed her hand to show her he was listening and gave her a kiss on the top of her head for good measure. He had no idea that she had been through all of this, although he had an inkling that there was some kind of back story. He was in awe at how confident this woman was despite what she had been through, things that would have broken a lesser person. She had paused when he squeezed her hand so he urged her to go on.

She was in a bit of a daze; their relationship had never really had a physical component before. They had walked arm in arm a couple of times while heading to their separate vehicles, but had never held hands. The kiss on the top of her head is what really stopped her. She could still feel the fire on the spot he had touched with is lips. She never expected that kind of chemistry or that kind of reaction. She wasn’t sure how to react. When he urged her on, she broke out of the spell, ignored the warmth spreading down her body, and continued. She related meeting someone and being very happy, until he came home and told her he was moving and didn’t want her to come. It was the blow that knocked the blocks out from underneath her that were remaining after the divorce. Things went downhill from there. She told him of the depression she dipped down into, about how she didn’t want to be her anymore, didn’t want to be here anymore. 

He was a bit taken aback by this; he never would have guessed that this vibrant, full of life woman had once wanted to end that very life. He sat silently holding her while she continued talking.

She told him how she had to move back to her home state without her son because the courts screwed her over, of how she still wasn’t happy with where her career was going. Told him of how she had started to feel better for a while, but then one thing after another kept going wrong. All small things, but they compounded into another bout of depression that left her thinking about running her car off the side of the road, popping a bottle of pills, or using the shiny 9mm she owned.

He stopped her there by pulling her into his chest and hugging like he’d never let go. He never planned to let go, he was going to hold her until he could make all the hurt go away. His eyes welled up with tears for all the pain she had gone through in her life.

She let him hold her. It felt good to be held. If felt good to be held by the man who’s music had helped her through all those tough times. When she felt the tear drop on her cheek, she pulled back and chuckled. Wiping the tears from his cheek, she laughed and told him she hadn’t even gotten to the good part yet.

He was thankful there was a good part coming. He wasn’t sure he could handle hearing about anything else bad. As he thought about all those things that had affected her life, he realized that he’d known people before that were going through tough times, as bad as hers, even, but he’d never felt this much empathy and sympathy for someone’s situation. What was it about this woman that pulled at him on such a deep level? He wondered if he would ever know the reason, and at the same time, wondered if it would matter if he did.

She stood up and tugged at his hand. She wanted to walk; she was all jittery from telling him so much already or maybe it was the coffee, nevertheless, she was especially nervous about the next part. She had talked to a couple of girlfriends about all this before, and the end result was not what she had hoped for. Instead of support, she got told that she was silly, that her feelings were nothing more than what every other “fangirl” went through, that it was a phase and it would pass. It wasn’t just a fangirl thing, though. It was so much deeper than that. Over the years she had read so many magazine articles, news stories, blogs, and anything else she could get her hands on about him. She felt like she knew him even before she ran into him that day. As the years wore on, the feelings about him and his music grew, and she was pretty sure she was in love with him. It really did sound silly, even to her. She kept the feelings secret until she was really sure that they were true and not just her brain messing with her. When she finally accepted the feelings, a sort of calm had washed over her. She figured she’d just deal with them since the likelihood of ever getting to meet him was slim to none and seriously, what would he want with some random girl from the middle of nowhere anyways. 

She was terrified of telling him that she loved him. Would he think she’s crazy? Would he run the other direction? Would he feel the same way? He couldn’t possibly feel the same way, he’d only known her for a few weeks, knew next to nothing about her. But that pull that she felt, she knew he felt it to. He had hinted at it more than once. Maybe, just maybe, there were feelings on his side… But that terrified her, too. How would that work? The only reason they were able to see each other as often as they were was because he wasn’t touring right now, and that was inevitable, being a famous musician and all. She couldn’t uproot her life to follow him, would he even want her to? She sure as heck wasn’t going to spend her days waiting for a phone call at night and that be the only time they got to talk...

She shook her head; she was getting way too far ahead of herself. She had to get through telling him how she felt before any of that could transpire; she was getting all worked up over nothing. She felt him squeeze her hand and she stopped walking, screwed up her courage and best game face and turned to him.

It drove him nuts when she went into deep thought like that. He could see the emotions battling each other on her face. Happiness, fear, and trepidation flitted across her face, all at once. He wished she would just tell him, he was rather confused by the play of emotions in her eyes. He let her think, though, pretending he was more patient than he was. Wondering what this good part could possibly be if it caused fear to flash in her face. He squeezed her hand gently, wanting to make the fear go away. She stopped and turned to him, and he caught his breath at the determination that now replaced the fear in her face.

She looked away from his face down at his chest and fiddled with his shirt and started talking, just babbling on; she was afraid that if she didn’t say it now, she’d never work up the courage again. She related to him everything that had she had been thinking just now, minus all the worry wart stuff. She wasn’t even sure he was following what she was saying, she was talking so fast. When she finished, she hesitantly looked up at his face and was taken aback by his expression. He had this blank look on his face and she was instantly embarrassed. She pulled her hand out of his and started to walk away and was surprised when she felt him take her hand back in his. She turned back with tears in her eyes expecting him to laugh it off or laugh at her, but she was even more surprised by the look on his face this time. He was smiling, and she could see the glistening of tears in his eyes. His eyes told her that there was something there, so she waited for him to say something.

She was talking so fast he could barely keep up, but he was pretty sure he got the essence of what she was saying, and the whole “I love you “ part kind of stuck out, despite the micro machine man pace she was rattling off at. Those three words hit him hard, right in the heart and suddenly the weird pull he felt towards her made sense. Well, it didn’t make sense, he’d only known her for a few weeks, how could he love her, but there is was. It startled him, the immensity of the feeling, and it took him a moment to react when she stopped talking. Unfortunately, she took that moment the wrong way and started to walk away. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back, and with tears in his eyes, he pulled her in and kissed her, ever so softly, and whispered those 4 little words that would completely change their lives forever.


End file.
